By John Lancaster
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 16, 1998; Page A17

ABOARD THE USS INDEPENDENCE, Feb. 15—As a newcomer to the Persian Gulf, Navy Lt. John Picco was a bit disappointed by his first foray into the potentially hostile skies over southern Iraq, where American pilots have enforced a "no-fly" zone since shortly after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

"It's kind of anticlimactic," said Picco, 27, of Annandale, who flies an F/A-18 Hornet -- the Navy's premier strike plane -- from the deck of this massive floating arsenal now cruising in the glassy seas of the northern gulf. "You're all fired up. It's still Iraq, so you're carrying all your equipment [but] I'm looking over the side, and it's just barren. . . . It gets to be routine."

These days, however, Picco and his fellow aviators are anything but complacent about their task.

As the United States and Britain complete a massive military buildup in the gulf, they are treating every surveillance flight over southern Iraq as a practice run for bombing missions they could be called upon to execute within days.

"It's a whole different mind-set," said Picco, a rangy third-generation naval officer -- his father, a captain, retires in a matter of days -- who goes by the call sign "Rosco." "You don't know what's behind the door. The whole anticipation factor -- is anything going to happen, and if it does, when? So every flight is important."

As they crisscross the skies over southern Iraq, pilots are familiarizing themselves with what they benignly call "the environment" -- enemy radar installations, antiaircraft gun emplacements and surface-to-air missiles, among other things. They are practicing bombing runs, designating potential targets with lasers and in some cases carrying the same precision-guided munitions they would use to destroy buildings in an air raid.

The southern "no-fly" zone stops at the 33rd parallel, south of Baghdad. But senior officers on the ship already are poring over lists of targets in and around the Iraqi capital -- indeed, throughout much of the country -- supplied by planners at the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, headquarters of the U.S.-led Joint Task Force, which directs U.S. and coalition flight operations aimed at containing Iraq.

"Obviously we're not flying over Baghdad every day, but we have the capability to . . . prepare ourselves very well," said Rear Adm. Charles W. Moore, who flew combat missions in Vietnam and commands the 16-ship naval force -- which also includes the carrier George Washington -- now plying the waters of the gulf. The British have supplied a third carrier, the HMS Invincible.

As diplomacy continues, aviators on the Independence have had plenty of time to contemplate the hazards that could lie ahead. In particular, they say, they are concerned about the potential for civilian casualties -- especially if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein again surrounds likely targets with "human shields" -- as well as the threat to their own safety from Iraqi air-defense systems that have been substantially rebuilt since the Gulf War.

"What we will feel the most pride in is deterring this conflict," Moore said. But he also expressed confidence in the striking power of the naval forces now assembled in the region, which include destroyers and attack submarines capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles. "If we can identify a target and the national command authority of the United States wants it destroyed, we can destroy it," he said. "It's that simple."

Ever since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the Persian Gulf has been a virtual second home for the U.S. carrier fleet. In general, however, Pentagon officials have contented themselves with one carrier in the gulf, and sometimes not even that.

Since the eruption of the latest crisis over Saddam Hussein's refusal to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspections, the Air Force also has augmented its forces in the region by dispatching bombers and other aircraft to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

"The difference between this particular crisis and others in the past is that this one, in my view, appears to be far more serious," Moore said.

The Navy could play a particularly important role. Saudi Arabia has refused to grant permission for Air Force planes to fly bombing missions against Iraq from its territory.

That restriction, in the view of pilots on board the Independence, demonstrates the unique ability of carriers -- "nine acres of sovereign American territory," as Moore described the two now operating in the gulf -- to project American power without regard to regional politics.

"They're getting tied up in all these political games, but obviously we don't have that problem, floating out here," said Picco, the F/A-18 pilot.

The prospect of combat with Iraq has a special poignancy for the crew of the Independence, which is based in Japan and, at the age of 39, is the U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned ship. It is scheduled for retirement at Bremerton, Wash., next September.

"All of a sudden we have a real mission," said Capt. Mark R. Milliken, commanding officer of the Independence. "It's a great way to put this ship away."

Notwithstanding the rising tensions in the region, the Independence is operating normally. The ship launches 35 to 55 missions a day, most in support of Operation Southern Watch, the flight ban over southern Iraq.

Like other pilots, Picco divides his schedule among flight briefings, administrative duties and flight time over the gulf or, sometimes, as he says, "the beach" -- otherwise known as Iraq.

He runs four miles a day on a treadmill, relaxes with his five bunk mates by listening to music or watching videos and stays in touch with family and friends using the ship's e-mail system.

Picco said that he tries not to dwell too much on whatever might lie ahead.

"Until it goes down, it's pretty much hypothetical," he said.